Book Summary and Reviews of The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean

The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean

The Girl with a Thousand Faces

by Sunyi Dean

  • Readers' Rating (2):
  • Published:
  • May 2026, 320 pages
  • Rate this book

About this book

Book Summary

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Book Eaters comes The Girl with a Thousand Faces, a stunning Gothic tale set in a historical Hong Kong that meshes ancient myths and local legends into a haunting story of ghosts, grief, and women who will not forgive.

When Mercy Chan washed up on the shores of Hong Kong with no family, no money, and no memories, the only place she could find refuge was in the infamous, ghost-infested slum of Kowloon Walled City. Since then, she has rebuilt her life working for the local triad as a ghost-talker and dealing with the angry and bitter spirits who haunt the district. The filthy gutters and cramped alleyways of Kowloon now feel like home.

But the past Mercy can't remember won't let her go. An unusually powerful ghost has infested Kowloon's waterways, drowning innocents and threatening the district. It claims to know Mercy―and secrets from her past that are best left forgotten.

As Mercy is drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game with this malignant spirit, she begins to realize that the monster she fights within these walls may well be one of her own making.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"In the midst of the entertaining drama, serious meditation on the nature of revenge and its effect on its seeker makes a heartfelt argument for the power of forgiveness. Dean's fans will not be disappointed." —Publishers Weekly

"Sunyi Dean's storytelling is gripping and sure, her characters complex and cathartically vengeful, her worlds richly imagined and transportive. The Girl with a Thousand Faces contends with all manner of ghosts, and beautifully examines the nature of grief, rage, and all that must be put to rest in order to truly live." ―Olivie Blake, New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

"The Girl With a Thousand Faces gripped me from the start and refused to let go. It is a mystery, a war story, a tragedy, but more than anything, it is a haunting story of loneliness, love, and loss. The Girl With a Thousand Faces confirms Sunyi Dean as one of the most interesting voices in genre fiction." ―Gareth Brown, USA Today bestselling author of The Book of Doors

This information about The Girl with a Thousand Faces was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

Janine_S

Fascinating historical fantasy
A gothic fantasy that delivers on suspense and historical elements. I listened to this fascinating book beautifully narrated (thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio) and was captivated by the story.

The book follows Mercy Chan who washes up the shores of Hong Kong during World War II with no memory, no past and no resources. She survives the war by hiding in Kowloon Walled City, a notorious ghost-infected slum. Over the years she becomes a ghost-talker for the local triad. The story is filled with angry spirits, ghost cats, East Asian ghost lore and deep angst over historical injustice. The story takes place in an alternative world where ghosts are real especially in Hong Kong. But it also tells a story about the horrors of war especially to people of the lower classes and women in particular. Soon a malignant spirit appears and Mercy is drawn in to a fight but she soon begins to learn that she may be the cause of this. Vengeance is also a prevailing theme in response to these horrors and atrocities.

The story is very complex and get confusing at times, but the author brings everything together at the end - quite beautifully. This is a book for lovers for historical and cultural fantasy.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Sunyi Dean Author Biography

Sunyi Dean is an autistic fantasy fiction writer, and mother of two. Originally born in the States and raised in Hong Kong, she now lives in Yorkshire. When not reading, running, falling over in yoga, or rolling d20s, she sometimes escapes the city to wildswim in lonely dales.

Link to Sunyi Dean's Website

Name Pronunciation
Sunyi Dean: sun-yee deen

Other books by Sunyi Dean at BookBrowse
  • The Book Eaters jacket
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Girl with a Thousand Faces, try these:

  • What a Time to Be Alive jacket

    What a Time to Be Alive

    by Jade Chang

    Published 2026

    About this book

    A deeply moving and often hilarious novel following a woman who becomes an internet folk hero in the most unexpected way, catapulting her into fame and influence just as she's finally beginning to reckon with her complicated past.

  • We Do Not Part jacket

    We Do Not Part

    by Han Kang

    Published 2026

    About this book

    Han Kang's most revelatory book since The Vegetarian, We Do Not Part tells the story of a friendship between two women while powerfully reckoning with a hidden chapter of Korean history.

  • Good and Evil and Other Stories jacket

    Good and Evil and Other Stories

    by Samanta Schweblin

    Published 2025

    About this book

    A haunting, unforgettable collection of tales by Samanta Schweblin, winner of the 2022 National Book Award for Translated Literature and three-time Booker Prize finalist.

We have 11 read-alikes for The Girl with a Thousand Faces, but non-members are limited to three results. Join free to see the complete list of recommendations.
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes

More Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History

Browse all Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History books

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
When No One Else Will
by Amanda Skenandore
1940s Chicago nurse risks everything at an illegal women’s clinic during a high-profile trial of courage and sisterhood.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket
    Look What You Made Me Do
    by John Lanchester
    A propulsive tale of intergenerational tension and revenge from the Booker Prize nominee.
  • Book Jacket
    Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young
    by Zayd Ayers Dohrn
    Son of Weather Underground radicals recounts life on the run and decades of revolutionary struggle.
  • Book Jacket
    The Jellyfish Problem
    by Tessa Yang
    A marine biologist rescues a Maine island menaced by a giant glowing jellyfish in this inventive debut.
Who Said...

The low brow and the high brow

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Book
Trivia
  • Book Trivia

    Can you name the title?

    Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

Q S, S

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.